Quite common is a continuous casting method using a cooled formgiving die, made e.g. of graphite. This method is especially useful for casting products with rather small cross section, e.g. rods and bars. One application of this technique is horizontal casting, where the cast product is drawn through a horizontally situated die, and another where the cast product is drawn through the die vertically upwards. In recent years upwards casting has been developed so far that 8 mm thick wire rod can also be cast profitably. In this case a casting speed of 3-4 meter per minute at least is needed to keep the number of casting strands moderate. 8 mm wire rod can be drawn directly in bull-block drawing machine so e.g. no expensive cold rolling mill is needed in a first roughing step. Casting through a graphite die is done with a stop-and-go motion or strokewise. The casting of relatively thick products causes this strokewise movement no problems because the strokes are rather few per time unit. But when casting thin wire-like products several hundred strokes per minute are required to get the production needed. Because the stroke movement disturbs the solidification at the lower end of the wire rod and thus gives a structure with smaller grains, a subsequent cold working is advantageously employed. The fast acceleration of withdrawal machinery (drawing rolls, sprag clutch, lever etc.) and fast braking limits the frequency of the strokes.